Dragon Wars: Land of Myth Chapter Five Part Six

May 7th, 2010  |  Published in Dragon Wars  |  4 Comments

First | Previous | Chapter Index | Next

Chapter Five
Part Six

“What’s happening?” Daniel rushed towards the main hall after Ebona and Sarah as they pushed through the crowd of panicking speakers fleeing in the opposite direction.

Birke appeared in front of them, looking frantic. “Three dragons have been sighted to the north-east and they’re heading directly for Waldhafen. We’re evacuating, but…” She trailed off.

“What kind?” Sarah asked.

“Azure blue. All three seem to have chosen very snakelike, winged, two-legged forms.” Birke led them up a ramp to an observation platform. Looking down, he could see the townsfolk fleeing south. “It’s not a random attack either, their movements are too purposeful.” She gave Daniel a look. “And don’t worry, the scouts who spotted them are certain they aren’t collared, so you aren’t going to blow your cover if you help us.”

He winced. He had been considering just that possibility.

“Blue?” Sarah exclaimed. “You don’t usually see blues this far west.”

Daniel looked at her curiously. “What?”

“Oh my, I forgot you’d only been at this for a matter of months.” Sarah laughed. “We don’t know much about dragons, but we do know there are certain colours you rarely see together. Blue and purple are two of them. This is purple territory. They must be after something.”

“Your bracelet?” he suggested. She frowned for a moment and then shook her head. “No, they can’t sense them.” The colour drained from her face and her eyes went wide as she stared at something he couldn’t see. “Shit!” She span round and looked at Birke. “Where’s the mermaid?”

Daniel froze, his heart pausing momentarily with an uncomfortable lurch. He swallowed convulsively and forced himself to breathe. “Mela? Why would they… you think they’re after her?”

“I don’t know, but she’s definitely the target. This is a feint. I just saw it.” She turned back to Birke. “Where is she?”

“Shadavar is taking her to the shelters, but if they’re tracking her…”

“Which way?” he asked.

Birke pointed south into the depths of the forest. “Shadavar is fast. They’ll be well ahead of the crowd by now.”

“So’s Ebona.” He hesitated. “But can you two handle the three incoming on your own?”

“Well enough to keep them off your tail, Daniel Stevens.”

Daniel frowned at her odd emphasis on “Stevens”. Before he could even open his mouth to ask about it, she gave him a little shove towards Ebona. “Go to Mela, quickly!”

***

Mela clung onto Shadavar as tightly as she dared as the chesnut unicorn galloped through the forest. She’d been dozing in the spring when the alarm went off. The council had bundled her onto Shadavar’s back without explanation, but only dragons could cause the level of panic she’d seen in the fleeing townsfolk.

“We’ll be at the shelter soon,” he said without slowing his pace. “We should be safe there. Dragons have never got past the wards.”

So she was right, it was a dragon attack. She glanced back towards Waldhafen and wished she hadn’t. Several of the trees were aflame and a light blue dragon was hovering over it, breathing out a stream of fire. She gave a sob, clenching her eyes shut as she buried her face in Shadavar’s mane. She had no warning when something struck them from the side.

Shadavar gave a terrible scream and reared up, flinging her clear off his back. She struck a tree before sliding down down into a pile of brambles at the roots. Her head struck one of the roots and her vision blacked out for a few moments. When it cleared, she crawled to her knees and looked around for Shadavar and their assailant.

She spotted the life unicorn lying on the other side of the trail in his resting form: a small chestnut pony. He was ominously still and for a second she thought he was dead. She realised in relief that he was still breathing as she saw the faint rise and fall of his side. Climbing to her feet she tottered towards him, still looking around for whatever had attacked them. When she reached him she bent down and put her hand on his flank. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

“Run!” he gasped.

She shook her head. “I can’t leave you!”

He gasped for breath for a moment. “Stupid girl, you can’t do anything for me. The forest will keep me alive. This attack wasn’t random! We have to assume they’ll be back. Go!”

She shook her head again, but this time she rose to her feet and started to back towards the trees. “I’m sorry!”

She turned and fled into trees, blinking away the tears that threatened to blind her. Branches and roots impeded her path and she tripped several times before finally, one large root sent her sprawling into a pool of mud. As she climbed to her feet, damp hands grabbed her from behind. She screamed and struggled, reaching out with her mind. She couldn’t sense anyone there; not a speaker, goblin or dragon. Which meant they were shielded. A hand clamped across her mouth and she smelled lake water and fish. Her mind froze momentarily and she stiffened. No, it couldn’t be! There was a soft, familiar chuckle, and a cold blade was held to her throat.

“I’m going to remove my hand from your mouth, Melusine,” her captor said. “Please don’t scream, or I will hurt you.”

She whimpered as he released her, but managed to resist the urge to scream for help. It was! It was impossible but it was! Even if she didn’t remember his voice so well, no one else had ever used the name she wouldn’t have the right to use until she came of age for her. But he was dead! It made no sense. She gave another whimper and swallowed. She didn’t want to say it. Saying it would make it real. But she had to.

“Darya,” she whispered. It came out squeaky and he laughed again. The knife left her throat and he spun her around to face him.

“Hello, cousin,” he said. “It’s nice to see you again.”

First | Previous | Chapter Index | Next

4 Responses to “Dragon Wars: Land of Myth Chapter Five Part Six”

  1. mjkj says:

    Aww… poor Mela… *sighs* I just hope that Daniel is coming on time to safe her – but why has her dead cousin become alive and evil? It seems that she was quite fond of him…

    mjkj

    .
    PS: Typo: the heading says it is part five again … instead of part six

    • admin says:

      Yeah, poor Mela.

      There’ll be a certain amount of explanation of Kyle and Darya’s motives in this Friday’s installment. I hoped to fit it into the part I just posted but I hadn’t reached it when I hit a natural break. You do get some stuff on how come he’s not dead though.

  2. Krynne says:

    I think you may have done a slight typo:

    “Birke appeared in front of them, looking frantic. “Three dragons have been sighted…”

    ““What kind?” Sarah asked.
    “Azure blue. They both seem to have chosen…”

    I think you meant to remove the word ‘both’ (grin)!

Leave a Reply